A fondness for phlox: American beauties bring colour and sweet scent to borders
- Phlox, of which there are about 60 wild species, are treasures from America
- A vast range of superb garden plants have been developed
- Among these, big border phlox are the queens
Certain fragrances can bring on a rush of nostalgia. A waft of border phlox and suddenly I'm 12 years old again, looking for a tennis ball among waisthigh perennials.
That year — when Jim Laker took 19 Aussie wickets at Old Trafford — my Dad went bonkers on phlox. He had planted dozens the previous autumn and in full summer bloom they looked and smelled wonderful. The perfume had a touch of honey with a delicious freshness.
Phlox are treasures from America. There are about 60 wild species, from which a vast range of superb garden plants have been developed — and among these, big border phlox are the queens.
There are about 60 wild species of phlox, from which a vast range of garden plants have been developed
Phlox plants will be on sale at garden centres, in flower and ready for planting.
Online, crocus.co.uk has an excellent range, as do perennial nurseries such as hardys-plants.co.uk. Hues run through gentle mauves and soft pinks to startling carmine.
THE CHOICE IS YOURS
Border phlox originate from two species, phlox paniculata and P. maculata. There are also lowergrowing kinds, mostly spring flowering, and annuals developed from P. drummondii.
Paniculata varieties are lovely in borders and superb for cutting. They're tall (60cm to 80cm/2ft to 2½ft), last well in water and hold their perfume. In the pastel range, Eventide is pale lilac mauve. For stronger tones, try Adessa Purple Star, whose flowers have white centres, or the deeper Purple Flame. There are variegated leaf phlox, too, including purpleflowered Harlequin and two-tone pink Norah Leigh.
For more strident colours, Starfire and Windsor are bright red, Bright Eyes is two-tone dazzling pink and Roberta a loud purple. Plant these with caution because the colours could clash if you place the wrong ones together.
The flowers of phlox maculata are smaller than those of P. paniculata and are pink, white or twotone. Omega is white with a pink eye, and the flowers of Natascha have 'pie-chart' sectors.
Phlox are easy to grow. They need fertile soil that has been pepped up with compost and a light spring dressing of allpurpose fertiliser. They're not drought tolerant and benefit from mulching. You may need to irrigate them in long dry spells.
KEEP THEM HEALTHY
Phlox need fertile soil that has been pepped up with compost and a light spring dressing of allpurpose fertiliser
Mildew can disfigure the leaves and there are a few root diseases. But their biggest killer is stem eelworm, a nematode. Symptoms include swollen stems and abnormally narrow upper leaves. If your plant displays these, dig it up and destroy it.
The nematode overwinters in dormant buds at the bottom of the old stems but not in the roots, so the safest way to propagate phlox is from root cuttings taken from plants lifted in midwinter.
Border phlox may be showstoppers but there are others with different characteristics. The most elegant, phlox divaricata, is a woodlander with soft blue or purple-blue spring flowers on 25cm (10 in) stems. Chattahoochee is one of the brightest.
Several species form low-spreading mats. Spring-flowering moss phlox P. subulata is quickest to establish and flowers so densely that the leaves become hidden. Colours range from blue G. F. Wilson to magenta Temiskaming.
The 19th-century plant hunter David Douglas introduced phlox douglasii, which forms low mounds of sky-blue flowers each spring, and ultimately spreads into a weed-suppressing carpet.
And don't forget the annual phlox drummondii varieties. These come in a range of reds, blues, pinks and pastels.
My absolute favourite seed strain from Thompson & Morgan (thompson-morgan.com) has flowers in soft sunset hues from warm beige to brick pink.
Such gorgeous and subtle shades have to be seen to be believed and they're easy to raise from seed. But T&M has given this strain the daftest name — Phlox of Sheep.
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